Running back Todd Gurley broke free and was headed toward the end zone for a touchdown in the final minute of the Los Angeles Rams' 29-27 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
What happened next -- a heady play by Gurley that prevented the Packers from getting the ball back but also impacted the point spread and over/under total -- will go down in sports betting and fantasy football lore.
The Rams had just recovered a fumble on a Green Bay kickoff return deep in Packers territory and were in position to salt away the victory. On third-and-10 from the Green Bay 21-yard line, Gurley took a pitch, ran through the line untouched, picked up the first down and appeared to be on his way into the end zone. But instead of scoring, Gurley slowed up at the 10-yard line and allowed himself to be tackled at the 4 with just over a minute remaining. The Rams kneeled on the next play and ran out the clock.
"Man, forget fantasy and forget Vegas," Gurley said after the game. "We got the win, so that's all that matters."
First, the point spread: The Rams closed as 7.5-point favorites at most sportsbooks. If Gurley had scored, Los Angeles would have gone up nine.
The line had been as high as Rams -9.5 earlier in the week, but it started to shrink after money poured in on the Packers, who were the biggest underdogs they've been in the regular season with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. On Sunday morning, 91 percent of the money that had been wagered on the game at the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas was on Green Bay.
What Spread😂😂🤷🏾♂️#RamsWin https://t.co/EncL6q9SqP
— Todd Gurley II (@TG3II) October 29, 2018
Secondly, the total closed around 57.5. If Gurley had scored, the game would have gone over the total.
The reaction from Las Vegas sportsbooks was mixed.
"We needed him to score in the worst way," Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill U.S., told ESPN in a text message.
"If Gurley goes in there," a Caesars Palace sportsbook manager said, "we lose a ton of teasers, get middled on the game, and the over crushes us. We're fans of his smart play."
A teaser is a form of parlay bet that allows bettors to move the spread, normally six points in their favor. A sportsbook loses on both sides of a game when it gets "middle."
MGM and William Hill sportsbooks said Gurley not scoring created six-figure swings against the house for them, and the South Point sportsbook said the Rams' two-point win produced the worst decision of the "worst Sunday of the season so far."
"It's not a 'bloodbath,' but a solid loser," Tim Fitzgerald, South Point sportsbook director, summarized the day in an email.
Gurley finished with 114 rushing yards and a receiving touchdown. A rushing touchdown and the added yardage would have given him 6.4 more fantasy points, per ESPN's standard scoring system.
ESPN's Lindsey Thiry contributed to this report.